


Inkblood

by rengeee



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - MAMA (Music Video), Chanbaek is already established, M/M, MAMAverse, Other groups have powers too, Romance, eventual angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-06 09:29:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4216476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rengeee/pseuds/rengeee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inkbloods: those with magic running through their tainted blood, making them anything but human in the latter's eyes. Tao lives with eleven inkbloods and soon finds out that not everything is as it seems and secrets have been kept from him. Once those secrets are spilled, things will never be the same again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Dream

Mornings were Tao’s favorite part of the day.

He loved waking up in his bed to the sun beaming its warmth down on him from his curtain-less window. He also loved the drizzling, dark mornings, feeling the darkness envelop him in a comfortable gloom. No matter the weather, Tao loved being able to open his eyes and be still greeted with silence.

Tao didn’t particularly dislike the noise of the shared house he lived in, it was just nice to have a some moments of peace and quiet. Certain housemates were obnoxious, even during the night doing gods know what.

Knowing he had to get up soon, Tao stretched out his limbs before getting up and making his bed; Kyungsoo or Minseok would certainly start nagging if he left his messy even in the slightest. They could be neat freaks and Tao wasn’t the only one vexed by this fact.

He yawned and changed out of his pajamas and into fresh clothes for the day. He didn’t bother brushing down his bedhead, he decided to do that after breakfast. He made his way to the kitchen and dining room area, letting out a yawn.

He wasn’t surprised to see that Kyungsoo was already wake and cooking. Tao had a feeling the older man rarely slept anymore. The bags under his eyes only seem to darken lately. He supposed it had something to do with the hushed whispers between Yifan and Joonmyeon and the increase in trips Chanyeol was making. The older members of the groups always looked uneasy, no matter what they were doing. Tao guessed it involved only the older members; he didn’t think they would hide anything important from the other members of their group.

Tao went to a cabinet near the stove, opening it, and take a glass out. He glanced over at Kyungsoo who was making what seemed to be an American breakfast at the stove.

“Good morning Kyungsoo hyung.” he said, the older man jumping in surprise and letting out a yelp of surprise - though Kyungsoo would never admit to letting out a sound like that.

“Morning Tao, how did you sleep?” Kyungsoo shifted his gaze to him, shooting him a warm smile before beginning to serve the breakfast of eggs and bacon.

Tao went over to the kitchen and opened the fridge, grabbing a carton of juice and pouring it in the glass. He sealed the carton and put it back, taking a sip and relishing in the cold liquid sliding down his throat.

“I had...a weird dream...nightmare actually.” Tao took a seat at the island counter, watching Kyungsoo.

“Hm? What happened in it? Hey, can you get out forks for everyone? Chanyeol should be coming back in time for breakfast so make sure to grab one for him.” Kyungsoo ignored the groan Tao sent his way and kept serving food on the twelves plates.

Tao finally got up after taking another sip of his juice and made his way to the drawer with the silverware. He grabbed twelve forks and began explaining his dream.

“I don’t really know where we were, it was somewhere we’ve never been to before. And there was one of those things Chanyeol was reading about the other day...an eclipse I think? There were other guys too and they were...they were fighting us,” he placed a fork for each seat at the table, his back turned to Kyungsoo so he didn’t see the other male tensing, halting his actions. Tao took a deep breath, the nightmare having affected him as well as recalling it. But, his hyungs had told him that he couldn’t let nightmares get to him all the time so he was trying to not let it get to him.

Kyungsoo wet his lips nervously, “Oh?”

“Yeah and um...then...they started killing us because we were losing the fight...I remember that uh...Jongin died first...and then...” Tao’s face scrunched up as he tried to remember what else happened in his nightmare.

“And then?” The older man pressed and brought some of the plates over to the table.

“I think everybody else was being killed...and I saw...duizhang die last...and then they were going to kill me but...I think that was when I woke up...”

Kyungsoo pressed his lips together in a tight line.

“Hyung? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Go wake up everyone else, okay?”

Tao nodded slowly, raising an eyebrow at his hyungs strange behavior and went to wake up the rest of the house.

When Tao left the dining room-kitchen area, Kyungsoo cursed under his breath. Zitao was going to find out sooner or later and it wasn’t going to bode well for any of them when that happens.

.  
.  
.

Tao began to rouse all of his fellow housemates. Minseok and Yixing were already up in their respective rooms and made their way down the breakfast. Waking up Baekhyun proved to be embarrassing as he slept naked and had gotten up without realizing he was...well in the nude.

With flushed cheeks, the young teen quickly went to Jongin’s room next. He shook his friend awake.

“Jongin wake up.”

“Shh shh shh…” said teen muttered. “Ten more minutes…”

The older teen didn’t feel like putting up with the struggle of waking up Jongin so he just leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Kyungsoo is waiting for you in the kitchen,”

Jongin almost immediately woke up; his crush on the older man was quite obvious, obvious to everyone except Kyungsoo of course. It was funny that a simple statement like that could produce such a reaction from him though.

“Tao I can’t believe you did that to just wake me up…” he grumbled, pulling back the covers and pulling on some sweats and a t-shirt.

He just shrugged in response. “He is waiting, just for everybody.”

Tao left Jongin’s room and went to Luhan’s room. He peeked in and saw nobody was in there.

Huh.

And then he remembered.

There was a really bad thunderstorm last night.

While Jongdae was more than enthusiastic about the stormy weather, Luhan usually was shaking in his boots. The brunet usually sought comfort in Sehun who would hold him till the storm would blow over. So, he went to the next room, Sehun’s, and opened the door. And there enough was Sehun and Luhan cuddling (luckily clothed, though they weren’t a thing so it wasn’t like he expected them to not be).

He went over to them and shook both of them awake. Sehun opened one eye and almost immediately sat up, his cheeks turning pink at the sight of his hyung’s smug expression.

“H-Hyung we didn’t do anything don’t think we did…” he mumbled, running a hand through his bed tousled hair.

“Whatever man, just wake up Luhan for breakfast.”

He nodded and began to wake the elder.

Tao went to each of the members rooms until he was left with one last person to wake up.

Shit.

Yifan, or Kris as the Korean members of the group called him, was a nightmare to wake up. He was grouchy as hell in the morning and it wasn’t pretty if you had to wake him up. It wasn’t that Yifan was just a mean person or anything, he just despised mornings with all his might, not to mention the stress of current events going on. Tao gulped before opening the door to his bedroom and stepping in. 

There, his duizhang laid, a pillow over his head and his sheets pulled up to his chest.

He crept over to the bed and slowly and cautiously pulled the pillow from Yifan. As he was beginning to do so, a hand gripped his wrist tightly.

“What are you doing?” a husky voice asked.

Tao jumped in surprise and let out a shocked squeak. It was kind of cute and amusing to Yifan.

"H-How did you know I was here?" he asked nervously.

"You're not as quiet as you think you are." Yifan answered him, his tone was a bit too rough for Tao's liking. "Why are you here?"

“K-Kyungsoo hyung wanted me to w-wake you up…! F...for breakfast!” Tao stammered. He wasn’t a nervous person when it came to talking usually, it was just Yifan intimidated him greatly, especially when he hadn’t had his morning cup of coffee.

The elder grunted in response and sat up, running a hand through his messy blond hair. Tao gulped as he let his eyes wander down to his bare chest. He forgot his duizhang usually slept in his boxers, and he was secretly glad so that he could see this attractive sight. Yifan raised an eyebrow at Tao but said nothing and got up from the bed to put on some clothes. 

“I’ll be down in a few minutes.” he said and Tao nodded, turning to leave. Before he could, Yifan grabbed his wrist again. 

“Hey, did you - are you feeling sick or anything?” he asked, a strange expression on his face.

The younger shook his head, “No I feel fine, w-why?”

“No reason. Just uh, Luhan wasn’t feeling earlier so I was just checking if anybody else was feeling sick.” he said, letting out a sigh.

“A-Alright duizhang.” he glanced down at the blond man’s hand still clasped firmly around his wrist. “A-Aren’t you going to let go…?” he asked, unsure of why he was still being held.

“Right...sorry.” he muttered, dropping his wrist and turning to his drawers to take out his clothes for the day.

Tao tried to ignore the heat rising in his cheeks and opted to quickly leaving the room. He hated the fact that his duizhang made his knees feel like jelly, his stomach feel like butterflies were swarming inside, and his face hot and turn red. He didn’t understand why it was like this. Shaking his head, he went back downstairs where the rest of his group was.

By the time he got downstairs, everybody except Yifan was already sitting at the table, beginning to eat. Tao slipped into his usual seat and began to eat. He let out a moan of contentment when he tasted the delicious breakfast his hyung made.

“Kyungsoo, thank you for making breakfast today instead of Jongdae; we all needed some good food for once.” Baekhyun said, drinking the juice he had gotten a little bit before Tao had came down.

Everybody ignored the ‘Hey!’ that came from Jongdae. He pouted and slumped in his seat. His cooking wasn’t that bad, and it wasn’t like anybody actually volunteered to cook for the group.

“I don’t really mind, I needed something to distract myself with.” Kyungsoo remarked, digging into the meal he made.

“Why?” somebody had asked and just received a shrug from the owl-eyed man.

Yifan chose this time to come downstairs and sit in his usual spot at the head of the table, not bothering to greet any of his fellow members. It must have been a rough night for him so nobody decided to mess with their leader today.

For the most part, breakfast was eaten in almost complete silence; Baekhyun and Jongdae tried to start conversations now and then but they quickly died down. It was quiet when the sound of the front door being unlocked and opened was heard. Baekhyun’s eyes lit up and he shot out of his chair to run into the foyer of the shared house and presumably into the arms of Chanyeol who had just come home.

The mood in the dining room quickly became more light hearted with his return, everybody except Yifan visibly getting into a happier mood with the arrival of their final member. Chanyeol came into the dining room with Baekhyun cheerfully clinging to him and nuzzling his face in his back.

It had been almost two weeks since Chanyeol left for an unknown reason, but it was known that Yifan and Joonmyeon had sent him on that mission.

Everybody greeted Chanyeol and began to bombard him with questions.

“How was your trip?”

“Did you find anything cool?”

“Did you buy us anything?”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes at Tao, “Really that’s what you have to ask after him being gone for like two weeks?”

Tao shrugged. “He always buys really neat stuff.”

Baekhyun pulled away from Chanyeol and sat down on his chair and motioned for Chanyeol to sit in the saved seat, which he did. He grasped the elder’s hand in his and grinned at everyone.

“So where did you go?” Jongdae asked, leaning forward and putting his chin in the palms of his hands, completely interested in his friend’s travel. Chanyeol usually goes around the globe for his travels; of course only Yifan, Joonmyeon, Luhan, Minseok, and Kyungsoo knew his entire agenda for going to whatever place it was.

“This time I went to China,” he said, “And no, I couldn’t buy anything sorry. I was just really busy.”

Baekhyun urged him to start eating since he looked skinnier, as if he hardly ate over the course of the two weeks. He started eating his breakfast while some of the others began starting conversations of their own again.

"I wish I could have gone with you, I miss China.” Yixing remarked with a sigh and Luhan nodded in agreement. It wasn’t a secret that both men got terribly homesick and yearned to go back to their home country, despite not having family or friends there. They weren’t exactly welcomed there anymore.

Yifan scowled at the duo’s want to go back to China and couldn’t help but bark out a, “Don’t be ridiculous. Once they recognize you, you would be killed on the spot, without being taken back to the Capitol.”

Once again the room became tense and Yixing looked down at his lap and fiddled with the napkin resting on it. Luhan rubbed his back comfortingly, glaring at Yifan.

“Don’t be rude, he misses it - we all do. It isn’t easy to just be suddenly pulled out of your home country without any warning.”

Before Yifan could reply, which judging by the irritated look on his face it wouldn’t be pleasant, Joonmyeon interjected, “Let’s not argue about this okay? Just let him miss what he wants to, Kris. It doesn’t hurt if he does.”

“Whatever.” he grumbled, clearly not happy with being shut down by his second-in-command.

Joonmyeon sighed and rubbed his temple. “Everybody, please eat, we have things that need to get done today so it’s best if we all have a full stomach. Kris and I’ll tell you your assignments for the day.”

Everybody just nodded glumly and finished their breakfast. Afterwards Joonmyeon assigned them their duties for the day, which mostly consisted of cleaning and training.

However, Tao noticed that Minseok and Luhan weren’t practicing with him and Jongdae. He asked the other man about it and he just shrugged.

“Maybe they’re doing whatever the elderly do. Like knitting us all scarves or something”

“Hyung they’re only two years older than you.” Tao snickered at his answer.

“But still old nonetheless.” Jongdae sat down on the grass and sighed. “Why don’t you go find them or something so we can finally start practice. I’ve been meaning to rematch Luhan and I’m going to win this time.” he had a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was planning on how he would defeat his elder in the practice match they would have.

Tao nodded and laid his wushu stick on the ground, “I’ll be back then.”

Jongdae gave him a small wave before he entered the house. Once inside he checked the kitchen first, checking to see if they were just still hungry or something.

Nope.

He went to their bedrooms and they were empty. He checked the rooms where some of the others were stuck cleaning and didn’t find them in there as well. He was about to go back outside when he passed the meeting room and heard hushed whispers. He almost felt bad for eavesdropping. Almost.

“Yifan I think he had a premonition, we need to tell him now.” it was Kyungsoo’s voice and he didn’t sound too happy. “We all died and you heard what Luhan just said about the increase of Hunters from the Capitol in town. Maybe they know we’re here…”

“We don’t even know if he has that capability. For all we know, Tao was just terrified at the thought of losing us so his brain conjured up this nightmare. It happened with Jongin when he hurt his waist and thought he wasn’t going to dance or teleport again.” this time it was Yifan responding to the shorter male.

Tao’s eyes widened; they were talking about him? Kyungsoo must have been worried because of the dream he had...but what was so urgent that he wanted to tell him something?

“Look, Kyungsoo, Yifan and I have already agreed on not telling Tao about his power. If he doesn’t learn about it, then we don’t have to worry of him trying to control it and messing up space and time.” that must be Joonmyeon speaking.

Power…? What were they talking about? Tao didn’t have powers...he...he was always taught that he was thought to be an inkblood like everybody else. But as Jongin, Sehun, and him reached the Peak Age when their powers would be determined, he was found to not have any. Jongin discovered his teleportation and Sehun discovered he was able to control wind. Tao needed to know the answers now. So, he opened the door and narrowed his eyes at the six men in the room.

“I have a power and nobody told me?”

Everybody turned to Tao standing in the door with surprised countenances.

“Looks like we’ll have to tell him after all.” Joonmyeon muttered, not looking very happy with the turn of events.


	2. Truth

“You might want to sit down for this.” Yifan said and Minseok pulled a chair over for Tao. The latter silently complied and sat down on the chair. 

 

“So?”

 

Joonmyeon sighed. “Look, it’s not like we didn’t want to tell you. You know how Inkbloods’ powers are divided into categories? Well, there’s some that are rare and rather taboo in usage. One of them involves time and space, which is what your power falls under.”

 

Tao’s eyebrows furrowed as he listened. He couldn’t help but interrupt, “But, Jongin’s power deals with space. How come he was taught about his power?”

 

“That’s because he was more mature than you and it was harder to hide. He already had symptoms of sorts of his powers. He already teleported once by accident before his Peak Age. We don’t know why, but that’s just how it is.” Yifan took over explaining for Joonmyeon who looked grateful that he didn’t have to explain any more about this topic. “You were actually the same way; we believe all time and space powers come earlier in life compared to the ‘typical’ powers, but we’re not actually sure about that. A year after you hit the Peak Age, you froze time. Luckily only Minseok, Luhan, and I were with you.” 

 

Yifan sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair and began to talk once more. “You were freaking out and suddenly time started again and you were telling us what happened. We didn’t know what to do at the time, we were also panicking. So, we called in Taemin to lock up those memories.” Yifan ignored the unhappy sound that came from Tao. “We didn’t want you to continue trying to freeze time because we have no clue what the effects of that would be. There was an Inkblood by the name of Zhang Liyin who was able to time travel; this was even before you were born. The time travelling was too much for her and she ended up dying while in the midst of travelling back to the past. This is one of the examples of why time and space powers are taboo, as they can be very deadly to the user or those around them. Jongin’s powers we have to keep a watch on because they don’t seem to be harmful, we just really don’t know. Joonmyeon and I were worried that you would somehow freeze time forever or damage it somehow. And we really didn’t want to see you manipulating your ability like Sehun did with his idiotic pranks when he first found out about his power.” 

 

“You could have just told me in the beginning, I would have understood! I’m not just some stupid child.” Tao began to raise his voice, clenching his fists tightly. How dare they think he would have just abused his powers for tricks, even if they explained why he should not. He grit his teeth, feeling more than a little ticked at this revelation. 

 

Kyungsoo spared a pitied look at him and began to rub his back gently in an act to calm his anger down. The older male always had a soft spot for Tao after accidentally overhearing the truth about his powers. He wasn’t meant to know about that or anything else that was going on, but the four oldest members of the group had decided that they might as well let him on the information. He was a very trustworthy person and level headed at that. He did end up helping a lot with decision making and planning what to do. 

 

“I want Taemin to unlock my memories.” 

 

“Tao-“Joonmyeon began before Tao interrupted him. 

 

“No. I want them back. You will make him unlock those memories and I will begin to learn how to control my powers. You can’t change my mind about that. You guys led me to believe that I was someone I wasn’t for years. Do you know how many times I’ve been upset over the fact that I was different compared to everyone else?! I thought I was just an average human and not an Inkblood! And I know there’s something going on that you aren’t telling us – everybody knows that, otherwise why would you be making us train so much lately – I want to use my powers to help in whatever is going on. What if my wushu isn’t enough for whatever it is?”

 

Joonmyeon was about to say something again when he was caught off once again by Luhan. 

 

“I think it’s a good idea. He knows now, we can’t hide anything anymore. And like Minnie and I have been saying, we should tell everyone about his power so they know as well. As well as…other things.” He said, glancing over at Minseok who nodded in agreement. 

 

“But what if he ends up like Liyin through usage of his power?” Joonmyeon asked. “I don’t think we should risk it.”

 

“What about Jongin, he could end up getting killed his teleportation too right? He has a “taboo” power you said.” Tao was narrowing his eyes at Yifan and Joonmyeon now. Beside him, Kyungsoo stiffened and the hand rubbing his back soothingly halted its actions. 

 

“J-Joonmyeon that won’t happen right…?” Kyungsoo asked slowly, his eyes meeting his elder’s desperately.

 

Joonmyeon could only look down at his lap and mutter out an, “I don’t know.”

 

“Jongin will be fine, don’t worry Kyungsoo. For all we know, only over-usage of Liyin’s ability did that to her.” Yifan said. 

 

“So then why can’t I just start practicing? And wait, I heard something about my dream being like a promotion or something? What did you guys mean?”

 

Luhan stifled a laugh at his getting the word wrong. “Not a promotion, a premonition. A premonition is like something that you see will happen. This has been a more common time ability that people have as well as a stronger power, as well as seeing visions from the past. You know how with those black pearls I have in my room, I can see in certain places around the world?”

 

Tao nodded.

 

“Well it’s kind of like that, except instead of seeing the present through the Pearls, you can see things that may happen in the future. Visions are referred to the past events that you see that aren’t your memories. Jinki of the SHINee coven is like you, he’s able to see visions and premonitions. You won’t get them often, only for really important things.” 

 

The SHINee coven like Luhan mentioned was made up of five Inkbloods. The members were really close with their own coven and visits were often. The SHINee coven always relayed messages to them which always helped them out.

 

He nodded again. “So, my dream of everybody dying…”

 

“Was a premonition, since it was us and we obviously haven’t died yet.” Luhan leaned back in his chair and sighed. 

 

The room went silent for a few minutes, everybody a little startled and upset at the fact they are supposed to die in the near future.

 

“How long do the premonitions usually take before coming true?” Tao asked quietly. 

 

“Jinki’s premonitions usually take about a week or so. However, he’s had them as late as five months and as early as the next day. It’s hard to tell when it’ll happen.” Minseok told him, finally speaking up. The oldest of their coven usually remained quiet most of the time in meetings. 

 

“I don’t think it’ll be soon, it doesn’t seem like there would be any possibility of us getting attacked really…” Yifan said, crossing his arms. Although there were those Hunters getting awfully close to the outskirts of the town they resided by and went in for supplies. 

 

“So we don’t have to worry about it then?”

 

Yifan shook his head. “Obviously we still do. We’ll just need to take some precautions and lay low for a little bit. We’ll keep Chanyeol home for a while so he won’t run into any trouble.”

 

“And the night won’t be so quiet anymore...” Luhan muttered. “Baekhyun’ll probably continuing his night singing now that Chanyeol is going to be staying longer.” 

 

The older members snickered but Tao cocked his head to the side.

 

“Night singing?” he asked. He was usually a heavy sleeper so he didn’t have the misfortune of hearing Chanyeol and Baekhyun when he was trying to go to bed. 

 

“Um, nothing Taozi.” Kyungsoo shot Luhan a look that basically read to try to not corrupt the younger members with his complaints. The latter just shrugged and his gaze switched over to Yifan and Joonmyeon.

 

“Is there anything else we need to talk about?”

 

“Well I have a question actually.” Tao piped up, gnawing on his lower lip nervously. He wasn’t sure if his duizhang would actually answer what he wanted to ask.

 

“Go ahead and ask Tao.” Joonmyeon smiled at him.

 

“D-Duizhang why are you so sensitive about China? You made Yixing ge sad when you basically yelled at him...”

 

Luhan winced, shooting Yifan a look that hopefully conveyed the message of wanting him to not be a huge asshole when answering. 

 

Yifan sighed and rubbed his face. He really didn’t want to bring up why China was not a good topic to talk about. Everybody pretty much knew except the three youngest members; there was no reason to tell them because it just brought up resentment and hurt. Joonmyeon rested a hand on his knee and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

 

“Luhan, Yixing, and I lived in China at one point.” He hesitated before adding, “You did too. In China there’s a place called the Capitol where it’s basically the biggest anti-Inkblood headquarters around the world. There people come from many countries to train to eliminate Inkbloods and everybody who trains always end up as Elite Hunters. They’re one of the reasons why Inkbloods are so rare other than the fact that the gene is recessive. They always end up killing the Inkbloods they encounter. It is required by law in China that the first thing you do is contact the Capitol if you discover an Inkblood. The Capitol will then…eliminate them.”

 

Tao’s eyes widened. “W…What if it was a child?” he whispered. 

 

Yifan averted his eyes as he murmured. “They would kill them anyways.”

 

Luhan shut his eyes tightly and he let out a shaky breath, memories resurfacing that he was hoping he would forget. Minseok gently took his best friend’s hand in his and whispered soothingly to him. The Capitol was always a rough topic for everybody, but Luhan especially. 

 

“Luhan, Yixing, and I all met and lived in an orphanage. The women who ran the orphanage was really kind to all of us but they always seemed to treat us and a couple of other kids differently than the other kids. They always were really cautious around us, especially Luhan. They also were very secretive, especially when a man in a dark suit and these big glasses came to ask us questions. Once Luhan turned fourteen, he started to feel strange. It was three days later when we were having breakfast and the chair he was sitting on started floating in midair. The other kids and us were freaking out, but the caretakers just looked really sad, only a little bit surprised that happened. A few hours later that man that always visited the caretakers came with another person and took Luhan away from us. We were never told what happened to him, not even a lie was told.”

 

A choked sob was heard from Luhan as he recalled so vividly what happened while Yifan was talking. 

 

“When I turned fourteen and accidentally started to fly when we were outside playing soccer, that same man came with another guy and took me away, putting me into this van. They had blindfolded me and shackled my wrists and legs together so I had no idea where we were going. They didn’t even bother giving me anything to eat or drink during the trip which felt like it took a week. I remember they took off the shackles on my ankles and led me out of the van and into a building.” Yifan paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. 

 

“They had tortured me for days, I won’t get into the details don’t worry. After I don’t know how many days, they put me in a room with other kids my age. That’s when I found Luhan. He explained to me that we were taken to the Capitol because we ended up being Inkbloods. The two of us stuck together in that damn building, going through hell because of the people working there. We learned that we were suspected as being Inkbloods ever since they had slaughtered the coven we all belonged too, our parents included, when we were infants. They put us in the orphanage and made sure the caretakers would tell them if we ended up having powers. They had no choice but to comply since it was the law. A year later Yixing was brought to the Capitol too and we were all reunited. Around that time, some others began devising an escape plan. We were in on the plans and helped carry it out. The plan was going like it should have when something went wrong. We didn’t even know what it was. But we had to escape the three of us without anyone else. But then we saw you. You were so scared and we didn’t want to leave you where you were because you were stuck with a guard who…he seemed like he was so mad that we were breaking out, he wanted to kill you…” he whispered the last part. 

 

Tao gulped as he listened to the story. This was horrible…he couldn’t believe that this actually happened to the other members of the coven. 

 

“We knocked out that guard and took you along with us. We managed to get to a village a bit away from the Capitol. Unfortunately that same man in the suit was following us. He hurt Yixing but we threatened to kill him…and then he gave us an ultimatum. He would let us leave China, promising to find us eventually to kill us later. If we didn’t, he would make sure the Capitol would take us again and torture us and kill us slowly. We somehow managed to stow away on a boat which led us to Korea. Eventually Joonmyeon and his family found us and took us in their coven. When Yixing said he wanted to go back to China, he of course wasn’t talking about going back to the Capitol. He meant he wanted to go to our old town and see if anything has changed or if it’s just how it was when we were taken.” He finished. 

The room was quiet for a while; Minseok, Kyungsoo, and Tao were all digesting the information given as they hadn’t either heard that much of the story or knew none of that beforehand. Tao paused, realizing something.

 

“How come I don’t remember any of that?” he was trying to, but he couldn’t remember. He never realized but the earliest thing he could really remember was when he was twelve, messing around with Sehun and Jongin. He never remembered how he met the other members, even Baekhyun and Jongdae who were the last to join the coven. 

 

“We also had Taemin lock your memories from them.” Luhan admitted quietly. “You were traumatized by everything that happened. You wouldn’t even speak to any of us. We only knew your name because of your identification card that was on the uniform we all had to wear. You barely ate and just slept all the time.” 

 

Tao nodded and looked at his lap, understanding that it couldn’t really be helped. They thought it would help him and it did end up helping him. He didn’t really think that he would want those memories anyways.

 

“Tao we might as well tell you,” Joonmyeon began. “There has been an increase of Elite Hunters from the Capitol coming to Korea, specifically around the town and the nearby ones. We believe they’re looking for us. That man had promised to find you guys and…we think he’s keeping his promise.”

 

“O…Oh…” 

 

“There’s more we need to tell you, but we’re going to let that wait until we tell everyone. We should meet later today so we can tell everybody about how you have powers as well as the increase of Hunters lately. We’ll also explain why we send Chanyeol on these trips because it’s time that everybody knows.” Joonmyeon said.

 

Everybody nodded in agreement.

 

“So it’s settled then. Well, we need to get back to our duties so everybody just go to what we’ve assigned you to do and we’ll talk later.” Yifan ordered and he and Joonmyeon got up from their seats and went to go check on the other members’ progress. 

 

Minseok and Luhan walked with Tao outside, Luhan slugging an arm around Tao’s shoulders.

 

“I’m sorry if it made you upset that Yifan had to tell me about that stuff.” Tao whispered.

 

Luhan just shot him a smile. “It’s fine, you need to know anyways. I’ll be okay. We all will.”

 

Tao couldn’t help but smile at him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao have some poorly delivered angst and a lot of dialogue. And yes, the SHINee coven will be appearing in later chapters.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm finally publishing my MAMA AU and I'm excited! I've had this idea sticking around for about two years but every time I tried to write it, it would never come out how I wanted. But now that I've gotten into EXO, I've gotten inspired by MAMA and all the powers so I've been able to come up with a plot!
> 
> Just a warning I'm really bad at updating and I'm going to be moving states in a few days so updates might be slow initially, but hopefully I'll be able to update fast enough.
> 
> In the next chapter there will be explanations about Inkbloods and Tao so don't worry if you're confused. 
> 
> Also Yifan seems like an ass but don't worry, he has reasons for coming off that way which will be explained very soon.
> 
> I will also be this story posting on my AFF account which is also under the name rengeee later on.


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